ITV

Category: e-commerce

  • Quikr acquires India Property Online Pvt Ltd

    Quikr acquires India Property Online Pvt Ltd

    MUMBAI: Online classifieds platform Quikr has acquired India Property Online Pvt Ltd, a Chennai-based property website. The move is a part of Quikr’s strategy to strengthen its real estate transaction and classified business.

    Quikr has earlier acquired a number of companies in real estate space, including Commonfloor, and HDFC's subsidiaries HDFC Realty, and HDFC Developers. The latter two were acquired last year in an all-stock deal for an estimated Rs 357 crore.

    Real Estate contributed to 35 per cent of Quikr revenue in FY17-18 and is a profitable vertical for the company. The business is on track to again grow more than 100 per cent in FY18-19, the company reveals.

    It also says that the company is now the largest transactional player in real estate with two growing models – a co-living business to offer shared rentals to millennials, and a brokerage business for home buying.

  • Paytm Money enables ‘UPI Payment’ facility for Mutual Fund Investments

    Paytm Money enables ‘UPI Payment’ facility for Mutual Fund Investments

    MUMBAI: Paytm Money – India's largest online only platform for Mutual Fund investments & the wholly owned subsidiary of One97 Communications Limited which owns the brand Paytm, today announced that its investors can now make mutual fund investments using UPI based payment mode on the app.

    With every UPI payment authenticated against the user’s verified bank account, UPI based investments on Paytm Money offer the highest levels of trust and safety. Along with UPI, investors on Paytm Money can still continue investing in SIPs and 1-tap investments through Auto-Pay with over 190 banks via automated e-mandates & Net Banking

    “As UPI based payments continue to witness massive adoption across all forms of online transactions, we are very excited to offer the same convenience of UPI to the mutual fund investors via Paytm Money,” said Pravin Jadhav, Whole-time Director of Paytm Money.  

    Paytm Money is fast innovating its product & technology offerings to enhance & simplify the mutual fund investing experience. The company has partnered with 32 AMCs (Asset Management Companies) covering over 94% of industry AUM of the Mutual Fund industry.  The company has also tied up with leading rating services – MorningStar, CRISIL and Value Research to ease the investment decision-making process.

    Paytm Money offers only direct plans of mutual funds that come with lower expense ratio due to zero distribution fee or commissions which in turn gives investors a better return on

    Investments. Users can start investing in mutual funds with as little as Rs.100 via SIPs (Systematic Investment Plan) in some schemes or with higher amounts via lump sum mode. This investment service is completely free for the users.

    Paytm Money is headquartered in and operates from Bengaluru, its 150+ member team is led by the company’s Whole-time Director – Pravin Jadhav. Paytm Money aims to become a full-stack investment & wealth management services company. 

  • Paytm launches ‘Paytm Cashback Days’ – India’s biggest Payments Festival from 12-16th December 2018

    Paytm launches ‘Paytm Cashback Days’ – India’s biggest Payments Festival from 12-16th December 2018

    MUMBAI: Paytm, the brand owned by One 97 Communications, India’s largest digital payments platform, launched the country’s largest Payments Festival, ‘Paytm Cashback Days’ from 12th to 16th December 2018. The festival is aimed at rewarding consumers who pay using Paytm at more than 10 million merchant outlets across the country, ranging from organised stores, supermarkets, restaurants, pharmacies, petrol pumps, milk-booths to millions of small retailers. The initiative will also drive greater sales & engagement for all Paytm merchant partners across India and grow their businesses multi-fold. Paytm will continue to celebrate this theme as an event during special occasions year-on-year going forward.

    More than 100+ major brands as well as small retailers across the country that accept Paytm will be participating in this campaign. Some of the biggest participating names include Uber, Big Bazaar, Zomato, 24 Seven, Columbia Asia, Fortis, Cafe Coffee Day, Indian Terrain, Biba, Reliance Digital, Reliance Fresh, Super 99, Central, Heritage Fresh, US Polo, Flying Machine, Ed Hardy, Barista, Chaayos, Pizza Hut, Beer Cafe, Chaipoint, Mad over Donuts, Spencers, VIP Bags andZoomcar among others.

    Kiran Vasireddy, COO – Paytm, said, "Paytm has become the preferred payment choice amongst customers for in-store payments in India. Today, Paytm is accepted at the largest variety of stores ranging from large brand outlets to online platforms as well as small retailers across India. With ‘Paytm Cashback Days’, we celebrate our customers choosing Paytm as their preferred mode for payments at offline or online merchants by rewarding them with the best deals & cashback of the year. This will be a significant part of our efforts to push the adoption of mobile payments in the country & also help our Merchant partners significantly.”

    Customers can avail flat cashbacks of Rs. 200 on Rs. 2000 at Big Bazaar, while making a minimum purchase of Rs. 2500 at a Central store will make users eligible for cashback if Rs. 300. Eating out will also become more affordable during the campaign, with discounts of 15% at Beer Cafe, 20% off on a bill of 250 at Vaango & Mad Over Donuts, 15% cashback on a bill of Rs. 350 at Cafe Coffee Day and 20% off on a bill over Rs. 350 at Chaayos. They can also avail spectacular deals on fashion and apparel. For instance: US Polo is offering flat 20% cashback on a minimum bill of Rs. 3,999, flat 15% off at Woodland and flat 20% cashback at Ed Hardy and Flying Machine stores across India. Paytm users can also enjoy exciting deals and cashbacks while shopping at their neighbourhood stores.

  • Snapdeal launches one-stop travel store

    Snapdeal launches one-stop travel store

    MUMBAI: E-commerce startup Snapdeal has announced the launch of a curated travel store—a one-stop shop for the travel necessities for all types of destinations including mountains, beaches, and wilderness.

    The company states that the travel store offers a huge variety of ‘travel must-haves’ including bags and suitcases, camera, selfie sticks, bluetooth speakers, and headphones. The store offers the range of luggage pieces from Safari at a minimum discount of 60 per cent.

    The store also has a range of accessories like neck pillow, car seat support, inflatable bed, and navigation system along with casual shoes, sunglasses, headwraps, gloves, scarves, and stoles. Users can also pick sunscreen lotions, moisturizers, face mist, lip balms, and dry shampoo. It also offers a wide variety of options of apparel to upgrade one’s travel wardrobe.

    For the ones travelling with babies, Snapdeal has also selected baby carriers, prams, diaper bags, sleeping bags, bottle sterilizer, mosquito repellents, and more. Women can also pick personal hygiene items like pee safe, pee cone, disposable toilet seat cover, hand sanitizers, wet wipes, intimate wash among others.

    The store also offers an additional instant discount of 10 per cent to people paying via SBI debit card.

  • Myntra CEO Ananth Narayanan quits

    Myntra CEO Ananth Narayanan quits

    MUMBAI: Myntra’s chief executive officer (CEO) Ananth Narayanan has resigned and Flipkart executive Amar Nagaram will head Myntra, according to a report by Livemint.

    Before joining Myntra, Narayanan has worked with Marico Ltd as a board member for 17 months and prior to that he was with McKinsey & Co for almost 15 years across four offices (Chicago, Shanghai, Taipei and Chennai). As a director in the organisation he was responsible for leading the product development practice in Asia and worked with several companies on strategy, operations and organisational models.

    Ananth has a vast experience and knowledge from years in consultancy and managing operations to mentor start-ups. He also has deep expertise in driving performance improvement and product development.

    Key Myntra leaders such as chief revenue officer Mithun Sundar, who took charge in April, and human resources head Manpreet Ratia, who also oversaw operations, supply chain and customer experience at Myntra, have also resigned, according to reports.

    While Myntra has been growing fast, Jabong has struggled. Myntra bought Jabong in July 2016 from Rocket Internet for $70 million mainly to avoid a rival buying it. It is still unclear whether Flipkart will choose to keep the Jabong brand and platform alive. While Jabong will continue to operate for now, Flipkart may shutter the platform after a few months.

    Key leaders such as former strategy head Ananya Tripathi and former Jabong head Gunjan Soni have resigned from Myntra. The list is expected to grow over the coming weeks.

  • OnePlus 6T customer from New Delhi becomes the first-ever ‘OnePlus Lucky Star’

    OnePlus 6T customer from New Delhi becomes the first-ever ‘OnePlus Lucky Star’

    MUMBAI: Amazon.in, in association with OnePlus, the leading premium smartphone maker announced its unique ‘OnePlus Lucky Star’ campaign last week to celebrate the fourth anniversary of their partnership. Shashank Shekhar, a 24 year old resident of Delhi has been declared the ‘OnePlus Lucky Star’ and is now eligible for 600 exclusive gifts ranging from electronic appliances to fashion to home decor. The 600 gifts were delivered personally by Vikas Agarwal, General Manager, OnePlus India to his doorstep.

    The winner received over 600 exciting gifts ranging from INR 100 to INR 80,000 across 35+ categories from a wide selection available on Amazon.in. These included items like laptop, gaming console, large appliances, furniture, musical instruments, sports equipment, kitchen & home items and even stationery.

    Manish Tiwary, Vice President – Category Management, Amazon India, said, “We received an overwhelming 3 times growth in demand for OnePlus 6T during the anniversary offer. We are happy to see our ‘OnePlus Lucky Star’ absolutely thrilled on receiving the 600 gifts from Amazon.in. These gifts are specially curated from across categories like appliances, fashion and home décor among others available on Amazon.in. We look forward to an even more exciting journey ahead, through our partnership with OnePlus.”

    Speaking at the occasion, Vikas Agarwal, General Manager, OnePlus India, said, “Our partnership with Amazon.in began with customer obsession. As we mark four years of that partnership, we are very excited to be able to give back in a small way to the community that has made all of this possible. We congratulate Shashank on this win and personally, it’s been a very unique and exciting experience delivering 600 gifts today!”

    Since the anniversary celebration offer and ‘OnePlus Lucky Star’ campaign has been announced, Amazon.in has seen a boost in traffic seeing a 3X growth in demand for the OnePlus 6T on the platform. The unique campaign has been co-created by Amazon.in and OnePlus to give back to their users who have been a vital part of four years of the long-standing partnership of the two companies.  The ‘OnePlus Lucky Star’ winner today has received over 600 gifts from the widest ecosystem that Amazon.in has developed over the years for an unparalleled shopping experience.

  • Snapdeal 2.0 attracts 50,000 new sellers

    Snapdeal 2.0 attracts 50,000 new sellers

    MUMBAI: Snapdeal 2.0 has announced that in the last 12 months it has added more than 50,000 new sellers to its portfolio. The e-commerce company reveals that most of the new sellers are focused on the value segment and specialise in fashion, home accessories and small appliances – all large volume categories for Snapdeal.

    “The rapid growth in Snapdeal’s business volumes has caught the attention of manufacturers, wholesalers and retailers who specialise in the value-priced segment and who now see Snapdeal as the best fit for their merchandise and clientele,” reads a statement released by the company.

    Snapdeal 2.0 has also shared that of the 50,000 new sellers who joined within the last one year, nearly 2100 new sellers crossed Rs 10 lakh in the monthly sale within the first four months of their joining.

    In order to boost business for sellers, Snapdeal has executed a variety of initiatives in the last 12 months. These include providing analytical inputs regarding consumer preferences, demand projections at multiple price points and competitive landscape analysis to help sellers plan their sales strategy. Over the past few months, the company is also working to reduce the cost of doing business on Snapdeal. Last quarter, it tweaked the return to origin policy to reduce the cost of returns by almost two-thirds.

    According to a Snapdeal spokesperson, “The rapid growth in the business volumes of new sellers is on account of their intuitive understanding of how buyers assess value. They have a personal understanding of the needs, trends, and aspirations of value-conscious buyers and are able to accurately build and price their merchandise to serve these the needs of this audience.”

    In a sign of rising e-commerce activity in smaller towns, online sellers are also emerging from India’s mini-economic hubs like Dharwad, Ranchi, Varanasi, Moradabad, Raipur, Nasik, Kanpur etc.

    Another reason for the continuing increase in seller base for Snapdeal is on account of its pure marketplace model, where Snapdeal neither holds any inventory nor has any proxy sellers working on its behalf. This enables all the sellers to have a genuine, level playing field.

  • Binny Bansal steps down as Flipkart group CEO

    Binny Bansal steps down as Flipkart group CEO

    MUMBAI: Flipkart group CEO Binny Bansal has stepped down following an investigation into alleged "serious personal misconduct”, although he has denied the allegation.

    Walmart Inc, in a press statement, said, “His decision follows an independent investigation done on behalf of Flipkart and Walmart into an allegation of serious personal misconduct, He strongly denies the allegation. Nevertheless, we had a responsibility to ensure the investigation was deliberate and thorough."

    About the investigation, Walmart said that it did not find evidence to corroborate the complainant’s assertions against Bansal but it did reveal other lapses in judgement, particularly a lack of transparency, related to how he responded to the situation. "Because of this, we have accepted his decision to resign," the statement read.

    Kalyan Krishnamurthy will continue as the CEO of Flipkart, including Myntra and Jabong, confirmed Walmart. Ananth Narayanan will continue as the CEO of Myntra and Jabong and will report to Krishnamurthy.

  • Amazon eyes another 100 mn users in India

    Amazon eyes another 100 mn users in India

    MUMBAI: E-commerce has not even scratched the surface of its growth potential in the country – this according to Amazon India head Amit Agarwal. The giant will not shy away from another round of aggressive investments in this market. 

    As per the reports, Agarwal said that the company is looking to add another 100 million users to its platform in India. He added that the company would transform the landscape of domestic e-commerce and take its prime subscription base in the country to 100 million. Earlier this year, the company said it has more than 100 million Prime users globally. Prime drives a significant part of its overall sales in India. 

    Repeating the words used by CEO Jeff Bezos, on the occasion of the US company’s fifth anniversary in India, Agarwal said that Amazon is not even in ‘Day1’ of e-commerce in India.

    As per the reports, Bezos had committed $5 billion investment for India since Amazon’s entry and  much of this has already been invested. The current numbers for Prime and the overall user base in India were not disclosed by Agarwal. He also didn’t reveal about the size of possible future investments. As per Kantar IMRB’s study of 32,000 online shoppers, 50 per cent of online shoppers chose to shop on Amazon India during the festive season sale this year. Moreover, Flipkart had claimed leadership over Amazon during the sale. 

  • Amazon set to acquire 9.5% stake in Future Retail

    Amazon set to acquire 9.5% stake in Future Retail

    MUMBAI: Ecommerce giant Amazon is all set to acquire a minority stake in Future Retail next week according to an Economic Times report. This deal will allow Amazon to reach the country’s food and grocery market through supermarket chains like Big Bazaar and Nilgiris. Future Retail has more than 1,100 physical stores across India.

    The deal is said to be around Rs 2,500 crore. Speaking to Economic Times, sources said, “Amazon, through the foreign portfolio investor (FPI) route, will buy about 9.5 per cent stake in Future Retail and has already signed a term sheet. The deal will be announced after board approval on 14 November.”

    Wazir Advisors founder Harminder Sahni said, “It essentially means Amazon is taking a position in offline retail. But it can’t just be a financial investment and they will surely leverage Future Group's network and backend facilities for supply chain and other operations."